While our forebears depended on their senses to evaluate their status, we increasingly depend on gadgets.
Nowadays, if you possess enough curiosity, you can gauge your heart rate, step count, exercise intensity, and sleep quality—often all on a single elegant device.
In optimal scenarios, these gadgets create a link between your subjective feelings and what you can quantify objectively.
This is generally a remarkably positive and impressive development.
Our personal feelings and evaluations are important, but they aren’t always the most trustworthy. Humans aren’t typically adept at measuring our experiences and actions with cold accuracy.
Consider a coworker of mine. He thought he was consuming a limited amount of calories, but after diligent tracking, he discovered he was actually indulging in an extra 500 Calories daily—in barbecue sauce.
That being said, some individuals excel more than others.
Ben Johnson, the Canadian sprinter, was said to be able to call out his 100-meter time within a tenth of a second of the stopwatch reading.1
That’s exceptional performance, to be sure, but it prompts a question:
How skilled are you at self-assessment?
And, how can you enhance your precision through the judicious use of technology—such as fitness trackers—to inform better health decisions?
In the upcoming article, we will explore the above topics, in addition to addressing:
- How precise are data trackers to begin with?
- When is tracking beneficial? (And when is it counterproductive?)
- Can you train yourself to evaluate feelings more accurately?
Let’s dive in.
To start, how precise are data trackers anyway?
Not all data holds the same value.
Certain brands create superior products compared to others. This encompasses not only the hardware but also the quality of their software and data sets.
Furthermore, not all variables are equally simple to measure.
For instance, heart rate and step-count information is generally dependable,2 whereas many other outputs—from calories burned to movement speed—can have significant error margins.
The chart below displays the reliability of different tracking devices.
(If you’re interested, we delve into the accuracy of several progress indicators more thoroughly here: Are Fitness Trackers Worth It?)
Next, when is tracking genuinely beneficial?
The upside: Tracking devices provide us with more insights into our behaviors and bodies than ever before.
The downside: Tracking devices provide us with more insights into our behaviors and bodies than ever before.
“What’s truly astonishing,” states Samantha Kleinberg, a computer scientist focused on decision-making, “is that even the slightest excess of information can profoundly hinder our decision-making.”3
This is the tracking paradox: Insufficient detail complicates decision-making, but excessive detail does too.
This can be illustrated as an inverted U, with the optimal point at the peak of the curve.
Today, it’s surprisingly easy to become overwhelmed by information.
Think about the analysis paralysis you experience after perusing hundreds of reviews from local taco joints. (All you wanted was a good el pastor, yet now you’re uncertain which taqueria to choose!)
Finding just the right amount of information to make sound decisions is a skill—particularly in the realm of health and fitness, where it appears that everyone is trying to outdo one another in delivering more science, more personalization, and more intricacy.
But when all that information begins to blend into confusion with no discernible way forward, what should you do?
To start, you can pose yourself a simple question:
Does tracking enhance my wellbeing and performance?
If the answer is clearly yes or no, you know how to proceed. (Either keep tracking as before, or set aside the gadget and move on.)